Anyone train ever train with an injury?

[Kittan Bachika]

Regardless of the injury, it is always best to rest and heal up.

It would probably depend on what type of injury and what type of activity one does, but has anyone ever trained with an injury?

Sparring is definitely out but wouldn't doing drills in a low impact way be a bad idea?

 

[Big Don]

I trained and sparred for a few months last year with a jacked up shoulder. Sparring one handed is much more difficult.

 

[Blade96]

shotokan buddie of mine tested for his brown belt the same night i tested for yellow. He had a bad knee. As a result didnt have a great grading. Luckily they passed him anyway. maybe they realized he had problems and knew that he is good. (he is) :angel:

 

[DarkShadowfax]

Sprained my ankle during a belt test and kept training with a sore ankle too. Been going easy for a few weeks already. We're training on uneven ground now, so that's even more difficult, but hopefully it'll improve my footwork

 

[seasoned]

Most of my pain in my later years is due in part, to my training through injuries when I was younger. The upside at the time, was the ability to adapt to those injuries while sparring.

 

[jks9199]

I train regularly and frequently with injuries. They're a fact of life and of training. But you also have to have the brains to adapt your training, and know when you need to sit down or back off the training. You also should try to learn how to heal some of your injuries through things like appropriate yoga or massage techniques, as well as "plain old" first aid and injury treatment.

 

[Bruno@MT]

I knew a guy who is really tough as nails. you know, the kind of guy that would lose his arm and say 'it's just a flesh wound'. Anyway one time during warmup, the guys were performing leaping rolls. He got in too short after the previous guy so instead of having room to land, he slammed his lower leg on the other guy's head, really hard. And it hurt.

But of course, he kept on training because that is what you do.
After practice, he could not take off his gi pants because his leg was so swollen that it was stuck. they drove him to the ER, where they discovered that his leg was actually broken. He had completed a 1.5 hour training session with half an hour of sparring, with a broken leg...

 

[Bruno@MT]

As for training: I try to get on the mat no matter what. I've trained with an inflamed elbow nerve, with overstretched triceps from a lock that went too far, and with sprained toes or fingers. I just told my sensei so that he knew what was up, and he told me to avoid using the injured appendage.

 

[Laus]

I've trained through a few injuries. The worst was a torn ACL, which I didn't know was torn (nice job doc), until I tore it again so badly I could no longer walk. Had to take a year and a half off after that. Finished a kobudo grading with a broken finger after my drill partner crushed it with his bo, that was fun times. A few split knuckles from bare hand sparring. I've been pretty lucky over all, even the knee ended up healing well.

Most of the time I have to "train through" something its an irritation more than in injury - my shoulders get tweaky/sticky sometimes (from push-ups, heavy weaponry), plantar fasciitis (impact), iliotibial band syndrome (post knee op side-effect that flares up if I slack on the physio), ganglion cysts in my wrists (also from push-ups), swelling to greater or lesser degrees in my knee. Basically your standard grab bag of assorted inflammations that typically affect a martial artist.

As to whether or not to train, I judge that based on a combination of past experience and the advice of the people I trust for that sort of thing. 95% of the time I go to class. I may tone it down a bit while I'm healing, but I go to class. Ice packs, traumeel, and if necessary advil, usually take care of whatever is bothering me. Massage, yoga, physio, depending on the problem.

Drills can be fine if you can trust your partner to respect whatever limitation your injury imposes. Depends on the injury though. If something is broken you shouldn't even be there.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

I graded on the weekend for my first dan with a fracture in the back of my heel (painful for the timber break) and a broken bone on the top of my foot. I probably shouldnt have but I had just trained so hard the last 6 months in preparation for my june grading and decided to push through the pain and then I can train a bit more sensibly while injuries heal. I really dont remember the last time I didnt have some sort of niggling injury and Ive just put it down to not being in my 20's anymore. If I stopped training everytime I had some sort of injury Id never be in class.

 

[K-man]

Broken toes can be a problem. I broke the toe beside my little toe many years ago. I strapped it to the next toe before training each time. It took about 12 months or more to fix. Two lots of cracked ribs also took some time. I kept training, and sparring, but with awareness. At present I have a torn calf muscle. It's strapped and as long as I'm careful it's not a problem.
If I stopped training every time I copped an injury I would spend half my life on the couch!

 

[Stac3y]

Constantly. I took my purple to brown belt test 6 weeks after badly tearing the ligaments in my right ankle (I think it's called a Level 3 sprain). I was still supposed to be in a boot, but I ditched that after a week.

Got 3 ribs separated in my first round of a 90 minute sparring night; I finished the night and didn't take any break from training afterward. The only thing I had to stop doing was judo and situps, because I couldn't twist and pull/push at the same time or I could have risked pneumothorax. I did have to wear one of those ridiculous hogus for a couple of months.

I have also trained with sprained fingers and thumbs, right after minor surgery, right after having a tooth pulled...at my age, if I sat out for every injury, I would never train. I just strap it up and keep going.

 

[MattJ]

I train regularly and frequently with injuries. They're a fact of life and of training. But you also have to have the brains to adapt your training, and know when you need to sit down or back off the training. You also should try to learn how to heal some of your injuries through things like appropriate yoga or massage techniques, as well as "plain old" first aid and injury treatment.

Exactly. Well said.

 

[jks9199]

I'm looking at this with the perspective of someone who is older, and doesn't bounce back the same way he did when he was 20. And with the perspective of someone who has looked around, and seen legends who can barely walk today because of what they did to their body becoming legends. Yet there are other masters who were actively training -- and whipping up on their students -- into their 80s.

Draw that line. Reality -- it helps to know how to cope with some injuries, because you seldom get to choose when you are attacked and it's more likely if you appear vulnerable. So it's necessary to train with injuries. But that doesn't mean do it stupidly, either. Broken ribs? Probably not a time for free sparring, especially with any contact. There are other exercises and drills you can do. Knowingly training on a broken leg? Dumb; you could do enough damage that you have a permanent injury. (Yes, it's different if you don't realize it.)

The thing is -- weigh what you're doing against the need and the potential long term impact on your life. Is that test or tournament or whatever worth six or eight months of impairment on your life? Is it worth it for your kid to compete at a national or international level if it means that before they're in high school, they're going to have a medically necessitated layoff for chronic injuries? How about cognitive impairment due to repeated brain trauma?

There's a difference between being "hurt" and being "injured." I work and train through lots of hurts; cuts, scrapes, mild strains... you name it. But I pay attention to injuries that take proper treatment and time to recover. And I give 'em that attention and recovery -- or try to.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Trained with an injury…perish the thought…that would be silly….I would never train with an injury….

Of course over the last 30 years the times I trained with a back injury, knee injury, broken ankle, fractured heel, torn ligaments, sprains twists and uncategorized aches and pains and still trained don’t count.

I however do not recommend doing any of that and I am, for a change, not training due to injury.

IMO (based on my experience) it generally comes down to two options

Option 1: take some time off to heal properly then go back to training
Option 2: keep training and wait until your body forces you to take time off from training and maybe go back to training

And based on my experience option 1 takes a lot less time than option 2

 

[Shifu Steve]

I have trained through injury and as a result they lasted much longer than if I had let them heal. By "much" I mean years.

 

[Flea]

Once or twice I've tried to train through an injury and it only makes it worse. Not only that, but it screws up practice for everyone else as I force them (intentionally or no) to accommodate me in some way.

I do have a chronic illness and often have to work around that. I seldom skip because of it, but I'll often come and sit on the sidelines if I can't participate. The instructor knows what's up, and everyone else is tactful enough not to push the issue. Aside from the frustration of not being able to do everything I want, it works for me.

 

[knuckleheader]

Regardless of the injury, it is always best to rest and heal up.

It would probably depend on what type of injury and what type of activity one does, but has anyone ever trained with an injury?

Sparring is definitely out but wouldn't doing drills in a low impact way be a bad idea?

The real question should be who's never had to train with an injury.
Of course, some require no training because of the severity of the injury
and pain.
Common sense should dictate your limits while injured.

 

[Black Belt Jedi]

Throughout my training in Martial Arts, I was never seriously injured. The worse things that happens to me is stiffness in different muscles, sciatic nerves, bumps n' bruises. I was able to work around those minor injuries.

 

[Cyriacus]

I broke a Toe and Trained with it.
It wasnt a problem.